Man Given 4.5 Year Prison Term for Selling Fake IDs

(Phoenix, Ariz. - Feb. 24, 2009) Attorney General Terry Goddard announced today that Julio Garcia, 27, a citizen of Mexico, has been sentenced in to four-and-a- half years in prison after pleading guilty to Forgery, a class 4 felony, in connection with the sale of fraudulent identification documents.

Garcia, who had recently served a prison term for burglary under the name of Leonardo Ortiz Leon, was sentenced last week in Maricopa County Superior Court.

Garcia was accused of being part of a counterfeit document ring that operated in metro Phoenix. Garcia sold counterfeit Resident Alien cards and Social Security cards to undercover officers working with the Arizona Fraudulent Identification Task Force. A co-defendant, Carmelino Mendez-Gamboa, was convicted of Facilitating Trafficking in the Identity of Another, a class 6 felony, and last month was sentenced to four months in jail and three years probation.

"The making and selling of fake IDs contributes significantly to Arizona's illegal immigration problem," Goddard said. "We will continue working with the task force to prosecute anyone committing this crime."